How has Kyle Okposo's career turned that proverbial corner? Has it been the players he's been playing with, his maturation of a hockey player, or was it that one special night in May? Check out how Okposo is becoming a monster on the stat sheet this season.(flickr/Official New York Islanders)

The New York Islanders returned home tonight to face the Boston Bruins, looking to build on last night's 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators. And they did just that, defeating Boston by a score of 3-1 led by Kyle Okposo's three assists, strong goaltending from Kevin Poulin and Thomas Vanek notching his first goal as an Islanders forward.

The game was played in front of a packed Nassau Coliseum crowd, featuring both Isles and Bruins fans. In fact, the fans from Boston were loud, often and early. But the Islanders faithful would respond, letting the visiting fans know that they weren't exactly welcome at the old barn.

...But this trade signifies that GM Garth Snow is ready to strike a deal that can be made in order to benefit his team. He's no longer building for the future. He's looking to win right now (Photo credit: Official New York Islanders/Flickr).

And he should be. The rebuild has been over for at least a year now. The Islanders made the playoffs last year and played a series against a much better Pittsburgh Penguins team that could have gone either way had there been better goaltending.

The expectations deserve to be raised, and Snow has to make moves for the present. But at what cost?

On Sunday night the Islanders made the first major trade of the season by sending Matt Moulson, a 2014 1st round and 2015 2nd round draft choices to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for another scoring ace Thomas Vanek. The trade was first reported by Newsday’s Arthur Staple via Twitter.

Patience is something that is not in the Philadelphia Flyers vocabulary.

Flyers Chairman Ed Snider has not been the model of patience for the Flyers. For years now the team has been in “win now” mode at the expense of future development.

But two years ago, the team shuffled their roster and radically changed their direction, acquiring younger players, prospects and picks. With young players comes growing pains and unfortunately for the Flyers, these players such as Sean Couturier and Wayne Simmonds, are struggling.

With the team’s struggles early in this season, there have been calls for a roster shakeup.

The Flyers' week-long break will come to an end this Thursday when they host the Rangers.

While off, the Flyers set to work on a few things. Their powerplay unit, which is 29th in the NHL needed work; the entire team went to the Philadelphia Eagles game on Sunday as a bonding experience; and they have a couple players potentially returning from injuries which will create a few decisions.

The New York Islanders returned home after a disappointing road trip, losing back-to-back games to the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. But their losing ways would follow them back home as they fell 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres after being defeated in the shootout.

The first period opened with the Isles controlling the play for the entire period. Although both teams had plenty of shots, the Isles led the way with a 16-11 advantage. Evgeni Nabokov had to make some key saves, but the fore-check that the Isles put on in the offensive zone eventually led to a goal from Frans Nielsen.

The Danish center-man toe dragged the puck in the high slot and let go of a wicked wrister that beat Ryan Miller just over his glove and inside the far post. The assists went to Pierre-Marc Bouchard, his first as an Islanders forward, and Josh Bailey.

The Blackhawks prepare to face an unfamiliar Eastern Conference opponent. The last time the Hawks faced the Buffalo Sabres was back in 2012. This will be the first of two meetings this season between these two clubs.

The Buffalo Sabres are winless to this point with a 0-4-1 record which, could make them a very dangerous team if the Hawks overlook them or the dislike level is too low considering they have not faced each other much.

The Sabres come into this tilt with scoring problems as they are just averaging one goal a game. If that continues then the Blackhawks should be in good shape. You can never discount the Sabres however with Ryan Miller in net for Buffalo. Look for Co...

The New York Islanders fell to the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center Friday night in a shootout after getting a late goal to tie the game in the third period. From the opening faceoff, the Isles lacked the energy to compete with a Sabres team bent on playing spoiler.

Despite the loss, the Isles moved up from eighth to sixth in the Eastern Conference, pending the results of the final game for the New York Rangers and the final two games for the Ottawa Senators.